House approves $11 minimum wage

By Michael Norton, Gintautas Dumcius and Matt MurphyStte House News Service

BOSTON -- The House on Wednesday approved legislation raising the minimum wage to $11 over three years and authorizing a 31 percent increase in the hourly wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts.

The vote was 124-24, and comes after the proposal cleared the Senate last week 35-4. Gov. Deval Patrick, who will receive the bill after additional procedural votes, also favors an increase in the wage floor.

“That’s a pretty good bill and a pretty good compromise,” Patrick said. “In fact, it gets to $11 faster than under the proposal that some of the ballot initiative activists have pressed and I think it’s a good solution.”

The bill calls for $1 increases in the $8 an hour minimum wage on Jan. 1 for the next three years.

According to House Labor and Workforce Development Co-chair Rep. Thomas Conroy, the legislation, if passed, would over three years raise the wage for tipped workers from $2.63 an hour to $3.75 per hour by 2017.

Conroy said it's the first increase in the hourly wage for tipped workers since 1999.

Opposing the House-Senate conference committee report, House Minority Leader Brad Jones said the bill's attempt to ease unemployment insurance rules for businesses falls short of what's needed and represents a "missed opportunity,” since he does not expect the Legislature to take another stab at unemployment insurance reform anytime soon.

The bill still faces enactment votes in the House and Senate before heading to the governor’s desk.

In the House, Rep. Colleen Garry of Dracut was the only Democrat to vote against the bill. Republican Reps. Viriato deMacedo, Angelo D’Emilia, Paul Frost, Shaunna O’Connell, Randy Hunt and David Vieira voted in favor of the hike.

Jones (R-North Reading) said he supports increasing the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour over three years, and most members of his caucus are comfortable with that. But the compromise’s increase to $11 is “too much, too fast, too soon,” he said.

Rep. James Lyons (R-Andover) said the minimum wage increases will raise costs for small businesses by 37 percent over three years. “This is an unfair tax on the small businesses in the Commonwealth,” said Lyons, predicting some companies will go out of business.

“This is simply bad legislation, it is bad for the economy and it is bad for the people you claim you are interested in helping,” Lyons added.

Separately, the House voted 126-22 for legislation establishing a domestic workers’ bill of rights.

Conroy said the bill offers protections for people who work as nannies and in other domestic jobs, ensuring they are afforded proper breaks and time off.